Clutch rebuild issues/questions
Posted: 07:38 am Sep 28 2016
All the parts fro my clutch replacement came in yesterday so I decided to tackle it after work. I got new friction discs, metals and heavy duty EBC springs (more on those later). I have been watching videos on how to do this but, when it came to stacking the clutch discs back in there was a discrepancy between how they came out (and all the videos I have seen) and how the manual says to put them back in. When I took them out, all of the tangs on the fraction plates were in the same groove in the clutch basket. but the manual says that the outer-most plate should be in the offset groove in the basket. (see pic below)

Originally, when I put them back in I did not do it like the manual suggested but rather how they were when they came out. Once I had it all together i couldn't even engage the clutch. It was as if the clutch pack was solid and all I was doing by pulling in the clutch lever (very hard I might add) was stretching the cable. I knew that couldn't be right so i took the whole thing back apart again. This time I tried stacking them the way the manual suggested and put it all back together again. Nope, still couldn't engage the clutch. So back apart again, This time I decided to go back to the original springs. VIOLA!!! it worked. So, the EBC springs (which are in tolerance for length according to the manual) are too long, or maybe too thick, to work in my bike. The original ones are actually below the minimum spec from the manual by about .4mm but they at least let the clutch actuate.
Now on to the real question. Since I stacked the plates like the manual suggested (as a troubleshooting step) and never put them back to how they were originally (all in one groove in the basket) is it ok to leave them like that or do I need to take it back apart (for the fourth time) and restack them?
Also, is it ok that the original springs are OK being .4mm short of what the manual states or should I be looking for new ones?
Thanks
Jeff

Originally, when I put them back in I did not do it like the manual suggested but rather how they were when they came out. Once I had it all together i couldn't even engage the clutch. It was as if the clutch pack was solid and all I was doing by pulling in the clutch lever (very hard I might add) was stretching the cable. I knew that couldn't be right so i took the whole thing back apart again. This time I tried stacking them the way the manual suggested and put it all back together again. Nope, still couldn't engage the clutch. So back apart again, This time I decided to go back to the original springs. VIOLA!!! it worked. So, the EBC springs (which are in tolerance for length according to the manual) are too long, or maybe too thick, to work in my bike. The original ones are actually below the minimum spec from the manual by about .4mm but they at least let the clutch actuate.
Now on to the real question. Since I stacked the plates like the manual suggested (as a troubleshooting step) and never put them back to how they were originally (all in one groove in the basket) is it ok to leave them like that or do I need to take it back apart (for the fourth time) and restack them?
Also, is it ok that the original springs are OK being .4mm short of what the manual states or should I be looking for new ones?
Thanks
Jeff